Of all Americans, Muslims have the most kids

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It's interesting (and maybe depressing) to compare these figures to one's own family. Among myself and my cousins, we have a TFR of a stunning 1.1. Among myself and my siblings, we have a TFR of 1.67. And we're not even Jewish.

"Fundamentalist Jews" such as the Satmars in the Kiryas Joel community somewhere above NYC, are quite fecund, having between six to eight children per family.

I'd wager a guess that all religiously serious people, of all faiths, tend toward later families. In the US, a predominately Christian country, the religiously serious are the evangelicals, not the oldline Protestants. I'm not sure of the birthrate of white evangelicals, but I'd guess it is between three/family and two. Devout Catholics, of any race, also have larger families. Ditto Mormons.

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"The creation myth was the essential bond that held the tribe together. It provided its believers with a unique identity, commanded their fidelity, strengthened order, vouchsafed law, encouraged valor and sacrifice, and offered meaning to the cycles of life and death. No tribe could survive long without the meaning of its existence defined by a creation story. The option was to weaken, dissolve, and die." ~ E.O. Wilson